Hello all, I have not been able to locate an answer in my searches so I thought I would ask some of you skilled modders out there. Using the amazing Reforged mod as a base, I have taught myself how to mod existing and add new items into my game. My limitation is that I feel like there must be more unused files in game that I could draw on for additional models or inventory icons, without trying to add brand new content into the game and risking breaking something or requiring friends I play with online to all have to download the same package client side to see my changes. Specifically, here are my questions: (1) How do I locate the files used to show an inventory item? - Currently, I know you can use the command 'customicon', but is there a way to see all available icons, including ones perhaps not currently in use? (like some of the older items and weapons that have changed, or other material in game not currently used) - I am trying to not recycle too many of the same inventory icons for different items and thus create confusion at quick glance at your inventory. I know I can change the color of the descriptive text to help differentiate items with the same icon, but it still can be confusing at first glance. Any way to use more icons or even if I can add simple pictures into the mix to add more icons would be amazing. (2) Is it possible to make items produce their own light, like a flashlight or laser sight? - The flashlight and one of vermillion's custom rifles use the command 'createslight: true', but it does not work on any other model I have tried it on, including the survival tool, which I could've sworn at one point had it's own little flashlight... Am I missing something or is it only possible with deeper editing of core files? Thank you in advance for reading and thank you even more if you can provide me with a little assistance or resources!
There is no external way to view unused icons or models. You just have to go through the configs and find items and look at them in-game to see their icon or model. There's also no way to add new icons or models.
All icons are internal files and we can't edit them, but they have the same name as items they refer to. For example, in "Item Id: 2056, Name: Drill" the icon's name will simply be "Drill". The same applies for all items, and you can then choose any name to fit with any item, and the "customicon" parameter simply acts as an override to attribute another "name-icon" to an item. You can use the icons that are in the Empyrion Playfield Designer, in the Data folder. Just make sure that the names are up to date (they should be) and test your work frequently to avoid getting lost after too many changes. The link for the Playfield Designer: https://empyriontools.org/download/ Use the latest experimental version ( v2.05.0 ) and give a like to its generous author @jmcburn . It is only possible to have a light on an object if there's an "attachment" for it to be rendered. The weapon Vermillion used is an older model which was still available, and it had this "light" function at some point in the past so it can accept the function. This will not work with any of the new weapon models. To know which older model supports light look at the weapons which have a second commented-out (#) model available, and simply switch model. You can add the "CreatesLight: true" and "IsNightVisionItem: true" on any other weapon or tool to try it and it will not bug the game, it will simply not work if no attachment is present and the game will fetch the default config for these. I made the light work on the older T1 sniper model, which is the same that Vermillion used, and he used it to replace the laser rifle (I used the sniper) which he put at the end of the tech tree. There are very few available IDs from items not in use by the game (I think it's 4) so we have to modify existing content for the most part. If my memory serves me well, only the AssaultRifle and SniperRifle had a light attachment before it was removed. I really can't remember, so you will have to check them by yourself. Give it a try by adding the "CreatesLight: true" parameter and check it in 3rd person. These weapons all have alternate models : { +Item Id: 6, Name: PulseRifle Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Rifles/ScifiRifle2BlackT1Prefab # Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/PulseRifle/PulseRiflePrefab << alternate model ---------------- { +Item Id: 7, Name: Sniper Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Snipers/SniperT1Prefab # Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Snipers/ScifiSniper1Prefab << alternate model ---------------- { +Item Id: 14, Name: LaserPistol Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Pistols/ScifiEnergyPistol3T1Prefab # Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Pistols/SciFiPistol2BluePrefab << alternate model ---------------- { +Item Id: 15, Name: AssaultRifle # T1 Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Rifles/AssaultRiflePrefab # Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Rifles/ScifiRifle2BlackT1Prefab << alternate model ---------------- { +Item Id: 24, Name: AssaultRifleEpic, Ref: AssaultRifle Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Rifles/AssaultRifleEpicPrefab # Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Rifles/ScifiRifle2EpicPrefab << alternate model ---------------- { +Item Id: 36, Name: AssaultRifleT2, Ref: AssaultRifle Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Rifles/AssaultRifleT2Prefab # Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Rifles/ScifiRifle2BlackPrefab << alternate model ---------------- { +Item Id: 37, Name: PulseRifleT2, Ref: PulseRifle Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Rifles/ScifiRifle2BlackT2Prefab # Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/PulseRifle/PulseRifleT2Prefab << alternate model --------------- { +Item Id: 38, Name: PulseRifleEpic, Ref: PulseRifle Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/Rifles/ScifiRifle2BlackEpicPrefab # Meshfile: Entities/Items/Weapons/PulseRifle/PulseRifleEpicPrefab << alternate model --------------- Be aware that it is possible that all "unused" and "obsolete" items may be removed from the game at some point, so I would not recommend to have modded items to be central to any scenario or custom game setup. When the shortage of IDs gets a solution, then we may know what we can safely rely on regarding custom items. .
Thank you so much for your time and response! Your work is amazing. My brother and I along with one other friend are currently playing a Reforged Eden 1.2 game together. Seeing what modders like you have been able to create has inspired us to try our hand, even with our limited knowledge and within the currently limited framework available. Keep up the amazing work and thank you for it!
Wow, thank you so much! I have seen @jmcburn 's amazing tools but haven't fully explored them yet because I mistakenly thought they were only for custom playfields, and I haven't felt creative enough for that yet, haha, I've been sticking with simple item tweaking and creation to gain some understanding of how the files work in this game. I am going to check them out today! And thank you for all the detail in your response, it's extremely helpful. I found a some of those but seem to have missed a few. Looking forward to checking them out. I really appreciate you experienced modders taking the time. I am an inexperienced amateur at best. Any game I've modded has been by learning from the work of others and trying to imitate it within my limitations. I am amazed at the work and creativity involved.
I'm not telling you to use the Playfield Designer ; I'm pointing you to the icons contained in the Playfield Designer's folders (all items, weapons, blocks, etc) so you can "see" what they are when modding the config files. But there is also ... a Config files editor included in the Playfield Designer !
Yes, I completely understood your first post and redownloaded the tool and manually viewed the icons in the data folder. That was exactly what I was looking for, thank you! It can get slow and tedious bouncing back and forth in game and then checking a config file to try to find all these icons; so helpful to now have a quick reference to browse while I'm working. Thanks again, you guys have been so helpful.
Nice. I have never looked in there before. I see several icons that I have never seen in game before.
Just be on the watch for deprecated items/ deco, and mostly verify that the spelling is the same as the names in the config files (blocks & items). While most of them will not cause a problem, they will simply not appear in game. Check the console in game to see which ones did not make it on the playfield.
